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AN EXAMINATION 



OF 



MR. CAliHOiyX^S liCOXOiVl^ 



AND 



AJ>r APOLOGY 



TOR THOSE 



0ttmbtt^ of Congreiefie? 



"WaO HAYB BEEN DENOVITCED AS 



BADICALS. 



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V/Y 




S^fhyiicl [J^ /i-'^x-^-i"^''^ 



PART \8t. 



DECEMBER, 1823, 



r'^N 



Department. ^^ 
UMBiA Telescope. 

Since me secretary of v\ ar yielded to the earnest 
solicitations of a caucus,, composed of a small but select 
number of his friends, in the Legislature of houth Caro- 
lina, to be considered as a Candidate for the Next Presi- 
dency, he has made more noise than all the other 
presidential candidate* together, i his he has been ena- 
bled to do, chiefly iS^tie Officers of our standing army, 
who have also obtained his consent to be considered as 
their candidate An eflRcient corps of newspaper editors 
has been recruited, organized, and equipped, for the ser- 
vice of the War Department, and well drilled and dis- 
ciplined under a proper head, established at the f^eat of 
Government. These editors have sounded his praises 
throughout the Union, with undaunted courage and un- 
remitting exertion. If we are to believe one iialf they say 
in favor of their youthful candidate, his talents, greatly 
transcend the limits we liave heretofore ascribed to the 
human intellect. Compared with him, even Washing- 
ton and Jefferson must be considered as secondary cha- 
racters. 

He is represented as a Stak " in our political fir- 
manent, whose rising effulgence has attracted the eyes of 
the American People," — " exciting new hopes and anti- 
jCipations." 

That this young gentleman has suddenly become a 
star of the first magnitude, is partly explained by the edi- 
tors of the Franklin Gazette, who very gravely inform 
their readers, that Calhoun burst upon the irorld. Of 
course, this luminary has not shed his light upon us by 
degrees, liUp iho risinu; sun, ))ut has struck us with all his 



^^n^ 



o 



^^ 



NO. I. 



*' Great savings in the War Department^ 

Columbia Telescope. 

f^ Since the Secretary of War yielded to the earnest 
solicitations of a caucus, composed of a small but select 
number of his friends, in the I legislature of houth Caro- 
lina, to be considered as a Candidate for the Next Presi- 
dency, he has made more noise than all the other 
presidential candidates together. I his he has been ena- 
bled to do, chiefly Dyjttie ^Tcers of our standing army, 
who have also obtained his consent to be considered as 
their candidate An efficient corps of newspaper editors 
has been recruited, organized, and equipped, for the ser- 
vice of the War Department, and well drilled and dis- 
ciplined under a proper head, establislied at the ■^eat of 
Government. These editors have sounded his praises 
throughout the Union, with undaunted courage and un- 
remitting exertion. If we are to believe one half they say 
in favor of their youthful candidate, his talents, greatly 
transcend the limits we liave lieretofore ascribed to the 
human intellect. Compared with him, even Washing- 
ton and Jefferson must be considered as secondary cha- 
racters. 

He is represented as a Htak '^ in our political fir- 
manent, whose rising effulgence has attracted the eyes of 
the American People," — " exciting new hopes and anti- 
cipations." 

That this young gentleman has suddenly become a 
star of the first magnitude, is partly explained by the edi- 
tors of the Franklin Gazette, who very gravely inform 
their readers, that Calhoun burst upon the u'orld. Of 
course, this luminary has not shed his light upon us by 
degrees, like the rising snn, ])nt has struck us >vlt!i all his 



meridian spli'Uilors at once, and thus be-dazzlled and 
confounded no small porti <>u of our y umger politicians. 
This is a new and bold experiment on the part of 
the .Secretary, and if it shall prove successful, we shall 
have young gentlemen bursting upon us from all quarters, 
ur Presidents thus far, have gradually risen to their 
elevated stations, by a long series of faithful and impor- 
tant services performed for their country; and it is not 
believed, that the confidence of the people can be sud- 
denly gained, by any splendid innovations upon the 
course, hitherto pursued and consecrated by the patriots 
who have presided over the councils of the nation. 

l he lofty pretensions of the army candidate, have 
as yet, received but little notice, from those who think he 
has no claim to the high character he assumes, because 
they have never believed that he could possibly succeed, 
in his ambitious views. 'hey have never believed that 
a whole host of editors, could write a gentleman of Mr. 
Calhoun's age and merits, into the Presidency, even with 
aid of all the officers of the standing army. There are 
circumstances, however, which render it important to 
examine, with some attention, his assumed superiority of 
character and intellect, and his pretended merits on the 
score of service. 

Although it has been evident for several months 
past, to the blindest of his flatterers, and even to himself, 
the most blind of all. that he can have no prospect of re- 
ceiving more than the vote of his own state; yet his agents, 
civil and military, are pressing their operations with as 
much industry and zeal, as if he wa> seriously to be held 
up as a Candid te to the last. The objects o^ tiiese ap- 
parently desperate measures, are not misunderstood. — 
One, perhaps the nearest to the "ecretary-s heart, i^ to 
crush what remains of the old democratic party, in Con- 
gress, under the pretence of extirpating rulicalism. A nr- 
Iher is to gain as large a stock of popularity as possible, 
to be passed over, for a valuable ciuisideratinn. to the 
northern candidate for the Pres'deucy. As to the first, 
much has already been done under the late system of a- 
malgam • 'jig partiis. As to the other, it remains yet to 
be seen, liow far the popularity thus to be created, may 
he of a negociable or transfcrrable nature. 



When Mr. Calhonn received the appointment of 
Secictaiyof War. after it liad been oflTered tu •Governor 
Shelby, Mr. Lowndes, and VI r. Clay, and refused by 
Ihein all, it did not occur to him, that he could by any 
possible proce!?s ripen liimself into a presidential candi- 
date before he should reacli the age of forty; althoui^h he 
had fully made up his mind, to rule over this people in 
due season. His immediate aim was to provide a suita- 
ble successor to V^r. Monroe, who might hold on a few 
years, until his own character and pretensions should be- 
come more fully matured. 

Home Presidents have been accused of selecting their 
successors; but this Preside? t, that is to hey is endeavor- 
ing to select hi« predecessor; and thus make provision, 
that the good people of this country, sh 11 not be in want 
of presidents or presidential candidates, for at least six- 
teen oreig .teen years to come. 

It will be rec Heeled that in 1818, Mr. Calhoun and 
his immediate friends, were very solicitous to select a 
northern candidate for the ps esidency. 1 hey openly de- 
clared that the people of the north had a fair claim to this 
high office; that the gentlemen of t Ue south were on this 
occasion, governed by the most liberal principles and feel- 
ings, and were dispo ed to do justice to every part of the 
Union. These professions of liberality however, deceiv- 
ed no b!)dy. 

Althou2;h no President had ever been elected from 
a state south of Virginia, which, in fact, is now one ot 
the middle states; yet all the Presidents from this state 
have been charged to the south, as much so as if they had 
been eleeted from the Carolinas or from i Georgia. Mr. 
Calhoun saw clearly, that if the next presiden should be 
elected from the South, the claims of the '-orth and West 
eight years hence, would be such, as not to be resisted; 
and of course that his turn to be elected, would not pro- 
bably arrive under sixteen or eighteen years, for which 
he had not patience to wait And hence arose his great 
liberality towards the gentlemen of the North. 

In two or three years after he was placed at the 
head of the War Department, his extreme indulgence to 
the officers of the army was such, 's to gain heir entire 
^confidence. Thev rewarded him with unbounded ap- 



plause, and conleired on liim the endearing title of Failicr 
«)f tlie Arm} . This gave new energy to his ambition. — 
He began to conclude, that although nothing could be 
more opposite in their natures, than the Father of the 
Army? and the Father of the Country, he could reconcile 
contradietions, and become the latter without ceasing to 
be the former. Forthwith, he resolved to be the imme- 
diate successor of Mr Monroe. His liberality towards 
the gentlemen of the nortli began to subside, It appear- 
ed to him very clearly, that the claims of the South, were 
not at this time to be overlooked. Mississippi, Alabama, 
and Louisiana, were to be taken into the account. The 
Soutliern states, properly speaking, had never given a 
President to the Union, although they had been always 
willins; to do so. While this was the case, it seemed 
preposterous to select a President, from the north and 
not only from the same state, but from the same family, 
that had already given us one. A coldness took place 
between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Adams, followed by jea- 
lousy and rivalship. Mr. Calhoun had calculated upon 
receiving the votes of Pennsylvania, because his father 
was l)orn there as he alledges; which most flattering cir- 
cumstance, had intoxicated some of the sober citizens of 
that great state. But the caucus at Harrisburg last spring 
put a stop to his dreams of immediate power; and then 
liis liberality towards the gentlemen of the north, began 
agiin to rise. Confidence between these rivals Avas res- 
tored; and it is said ;t coalition has been formed between 
them, mutually, beneficial, and satisfactory to the parties 
and their immediate friends On the other hand, howe- 
ver, it is alledged, that Mr. Calhoun denies this coalition, 
and that speaking of the s^'veral candidates he declared 
positively, that each man sailed his own ship; which, 
probably gave rise to tliis vastly pretty paragra])h res- 
j)ecting him, which lately appeared in the Franklin 
Gazette, — " Like a gallant vessel on a troubled ocean, 
he proudly stems the opposing current; and with calm 
and steady dignity, glides towards the destined harbour, 
h\>, course onlv accelleuited by the asiitation of the elc- 
nieiit o!) whicii he moves." Notwithstanding all this, it 
is btlieved that Mr. Calhoun docs not sail upon his own 



5 



bottom, but that he expects to be towed into harbour by 
the Adams, 

V» hat is Mr. CallKnin, or what has he done, that 
entitles liini to the unbounded praises bestowed upon him 
by the officers of the army and his corps of Kditors? 

Mr. I'alhoun was a distinguished orator in the House 
of Hepresentative, for five or six years. T5ut amon^ those 
who were in the House with him, tliere were several of 
his superiors. Mr. Lowndes and Mr. Cheves from his 
own state were decidedly so, as were also, Mr. Clay, Mr. 
Pinckiiey, Mr. tockton and Mr. Webster; Mr. Grun- 
dy, Mr. Oakley, Mr. Forsyth, Mr. Grosvernor, and 
Mr. Gaston, were generally considered as his equals. To 
be ranked however, with these gentlemen, implies a higli 
decree of excellence in the art of oratory, which Mr. Cal- 
houn certainly possesses. He has also the merit of having 
joined a very large majority in both houses of Congress, in 
asserting the honor of our country, and in supporting the 
administration in all the measure s necessary for bringing 
the late war to a fortunate conclusion. 

Tlius far we are bound to applaud his character and 
conduct; and had he remained in Congress, his appro- 
priate tlieatre, it is probable he would have continued to 
render important services to his country, which as Secre- 
tary of War it is believed, lie never has done. 

Mr. Calhoun was distinguished as an orator, but ne- 
ver as a writer. In his communications to congress, al- 
tliough some of them are much laboured, there is no ap- 
proach to elegance or even neatness of style. He fre- 
quently aims ai brevity, but in this, he cronds without con- 
densing his materials; tuv whicli reason his sentences are 
sometimes obscure and perplexed. It is indeed remark- 
able, that a gentleman of his acknowledged talents, and 
classical education, should not, in his long and continued 
practice of writing, have acquired a better style. 

As to his ideas of business, they are altogether too 
magnificent for the affairs of this country, daring the pre- 
sent age. His aim has been to surround himself with 
subordinate heads of departments, who are to perform 
the duties formerly appertaining to his office, by which he 
is to escape the responsibily, and the care and labour of 



>■) 





the details of business. Tn f;«ct to assimilate his depart- 
ment to many important establishments in (ireat Britain, 
where the Head enjoys the emoluments and pat onage of 
office, while the duties and responsibilities rest upon su- 
bordinate agents. 

Of his expanded views of business as well as econo- 
my, wc may form a tolerable estimate, by examining his 
plan of reducing the army from ten to six thousand men, 
made in obedienc e to a resolution of the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the nth of May, 1830 In this he propo- 
ses i<» retain a general staff, sufficient in many respects, for 
an army of twenty thousand men — viz: 

♦'2 Major Generals, 

4 Aids (le Camp — subalterns of the line. 

4 Brigadier Generals. 

4 Aid de Camp — subalterns of the line. 

1 .ludge Advocate. 

6 Topographica Engineers. 

1 Adjutant and Inspector General. 

Adjutants General, -» 

4 Assistants Ad. utants General, / These to be ofliceis of the 

2 Inspector's General, f line as vacancies occur. 
4 Assistant Inspectors Gcner.il, J 

1 Quarter Muster Gt-nerui. 

Deputies Quarter Master General. 

US Assistant Deputy Quarter Masters Gcner,il. 

rj Pay Masters. 

1 Commissary Ccneral for tlie Purchasing Department, 

1 Assistant Commissary General, 

'2 Stoickeepers. 

1 Commissary General for the Subsistence Department, and wUli 

as many Assistant Commissafics as the service may require, 

all subalterns of tlie line. 

1 Surgeon General. 

2 Assistant Surgeons General, 

1 Apothecary General. 

2 Assistant Apotiiccarics. 
23 Surgeo: s 

•44 Assiitanl Surgeons." 

it is truly surprising ti>at a Kepublican Secretary 
>houl<! .-submit such a plan to a Kepublican Congress. It 
smucl^s of ttie army as stron-ly as if General Brown him- 
self, had drawn it up, The iVivmh of the Serretarv 



o 



IV 
4 



shrunk from the exhibition. Had surh a plan been pro- 
posed by a Sec'vtary of W;\r. in the lime of Mr. Adams, 
what a rout vvouUl have been m?ide 'bout it, by the H\u\\- 
cals of that day, then called democrats and di orejanizers? 
All the terrors of the sedition law could not have kept 
thera quiet. 

'f'his, howeVer, was nearly the r.'eneral "-^taff, in 
1818, for an army often thousand men, with which the 
Secretary then appeared to be satisfied. 

On the nth of December of that year, he made a 
report, in obedience to a resolution of the House of He- 
preseutatives, asking information, whether any reduction 
could be made in the peace establishment of the United 
States, with safety to tlie public service, and whether any 
alteratiou ought to he made in the ration established by 
law. &c. In this report he says, <*lt is believed that the 
organization of the War Department, as well as the ge- 
neral stiff ot the army, is not susceptible of much im- 
provement." " Every department of the army, charged 
with disbursements, has now a proper head, who under 
the laws and regulations, is responsible for its adminis- 
tration. The Head of the Department is th us free A from 
detail, and has leisure to inspect and control the whole of 
the disbursements." 

I 'he Head of the Department thus freed from detail, 
has also leisure to attend to the business of the Cabincit — 
consider treaties — regulate appointments and a variety of 
other matters, for which his talents are more peculiarly 
suited, than for the laborious detail of the proper business 
of the War Department. 

As a further supi)ort of the Department, the Major 
General is now stationed at the seat of government, where 
the services properly appertaining to his otlice cannot be 
wanted, (where there is no army, and where, it is hoped, 
there will be none, while our country remains at peace,) 
for the avowed purpose of aiding the Secretary of W ar^ 
in the performance of those duties, which require a know- 
' ledge of the minutiae and details of the army.* 



•Note.— On the 15th Apsil, 1822, Mr. Sterling f N". York, theconfidec- 
tial friend of Mr. Calhoun, in a speech in favor of retaining^ a major general 
in our peace establis'iment, declared that " it was impossible for the Secre^ 
tsiTy of War to be familiar with the minutiae and details of the army. By this. 



8 

Mr. Calhoun is freed from details, wliicli imposed 
upon^former Secretaries much lalior and resjjonsibility: 
the consequence is, that he pa^'s but little attention to these 
details, and probably knows less of them, than any 
former Secretary, and trusts more than any of them 
have done, to clerks and other subordinate agents — 
And Congress have to trust them too, instead of relying 
upon the responsibility of the ^iecretary, of which the 
above repor* atfitrds a notable instance. 

The part of the resolutioa respecting the ration, was 
referred to the Surgeon General, who writes to the Se- 
cretary, a loui; lett'^r of nine octavo pages informing him, 
among other important matters, '* that man was not origi- 
nally carnivorous," — And that "the horse may be taught 
to live upon meat," and this, the Secretary communicates 
to tlie House of Representatives for the information of 
the members, most of whom were eminently carnivorous, 
and not one of whom ever thought of dining n|)on corn- 
blades, or feeding his horse upon bacon, nor ever heard 
of any such thing, before this report, unless vve except the 
case of the man " who in pure kindness to his horse, 
buttered his hay." 

Mr. Calhoun controls general results without attend- 
ing 10 the details of business. rhe pernicious conse- 
quences of this system are severely felt by the public. He 
v.ishesto divide the duties as well as responsibility of his 
office. Rusijjess is perplexed by too much division, and 
we have abuiulant experience to teach us, that as we di- 
vide, we weaken responsibility. 

Mr. Calhoun in his congressional career, was not 
remarkable for investigating liis subjects with close ap- 
j)lication or regular system. One of his i',reat eulogists, 
[auihor of sketches of some of the prominent characters 
of the United ^tates] admits that " Mr. Calhoun wants 
consistency and perseverettce ofmind, and seems incapa- 
ble of long, continued, and i)atient investigation" and af- 
ter speaking in the most exalted terms of liis eloquence, 
he adds — '• Mr- Calhoun is one of those whom you can 

officf r lie cm be aidecl in ttio most cITc'ctiial and useful manner, and freed 
from an Intolerable burthen, wliich is inconveu'ent, if not incompatible with 
•vlic discluirg'e of iiis otl'er numerous and pressing' duties." Sec National In. 
lclIl},'en(:crof23.1 April, 1822. 



9 

olily trace like tl»e comet, by the li^ht he casts upon his 
path or the blaze he h'aves in his (ram. B-.U the situation 
to which he has been recently elevated, has I fear, 
abridged his sphere of usefulness, and as Secretary of 
M ar, Mr. Calhoun, who occupied every tongue during 
the session of the national legislature, m sy dwindle into 
obscurity, but will never b( forgotten.'" 

V^'ithout a capactty for long, continued, and patient 
investigation||, no one can be a man of business; and Mr. 
Calhoun although a brilliant oraior, was not consideved 
in Congress, as a man of business!, in the proper sense of 
the word. An orator, and a man of business in Congress, 
are frequently very distinct things, lit is easily shewn 
that Mr. Calhoun took an active and decided part in most 
of the important subjects debated in the House of K'epre- 
sentatives; and we have members enough who spe. k elo- 
quently and ably upon every question, but who really 
have but little capacity for business. 

This eulogist presumed that because Mr. Calhoun 
was wanting in the essential requisites of an able and 
useful Secretary of War, he must consf^quently dwindle 
into obscurity. No conclusion could be mo-e erroneous. 
Mr. Calhoun s far f!(»m dwindling into obscurity, has 
endeavoured t dazzle the nation with the novelty and 
splendour of his atchievements, and his success has cost 
the country some millions ofdollars He will not dwin- 
dle into obscurity, while his magnificent and visionary 
schemes cotitinuc^ to drain our treasurv. He will not be 
forgotten, while th« Vellow Stone expedition, or Rip jiap 
contracts shall be remembe'ed. 

Whatever ha*^ been said to place this aspiring Secre- 
tary, in the intellectual scale, above the first men of our 
country — of his acquiring by intuition, what other men 
can only acquire by application and study — Whatever 
has been said of the li htning glance of his uond, (is 
splendor, his effulgence, his bursting upon the world, and 
a thousand other such fooleries, des'^rves only to be treat- 
ed with ridicule. I?ut what has been said of his econo- 
my and the great saviogs he has made for the nation; as 
it is calculated to impose upon the public, deserves, and 
^hall receive moi e a seiiou«^ notice. 

From the, lOoth number of the New York Patriot, 



10 

edited by Col. Gardner, we take the following quotation: 
"Is there an individual among thepromistHi; candid-ites, 
jthe. structuir of wiiose moral feelings and seutioients, the 
elementary principle of whose character, form a striking 
resemblance to 'hose of Washington? We most confi- 
dently answer in the affirmative. If, since the days of 
\^ ashington, a Star has appeared in our political Jir- 
mamenl, whose rising pffuls;ence has attracted the eyes 
of the American People, and inspired the real friends of 
the country with neio and peculiar hopes and anticipa- 
tions, if an individual has risen among us, who has check- 
ed in tike bos.»m of piUriotism, the unavailing regret, while 
it has mourned over the memory of Washington, that in- 
dividual is Mr, Calhoun. 

'• We take the position with confidence, that there is 
not «. prominent man in our country, whose private and 
poiifical charicter bears so strong a reseml)lance to Wash- 
ington, as that of Mr C'alhoun, and if a vesernblance to 
Washi.igt<m is a proper test in selecting the nextpiesi- 
deiit, Mr. Calh -un will he elected.^* 

As this is the first time the officers of the xVrmy have 
undeitakea to make a president, sometliing new was ex- 
pected of them Vs that they would bedaub their candi- 
'date with a profusion of tinsel and gold lace, display 
something of the " pride, pomp, and circumstance of glo- 
rious war," and so f.^rth; for all which, the public was 
was prepared to make due allowance. But to exhibit 
Lim as a new Star ri.^ing in our political firmanent, whose 
ctftdgcnre has attracted the eyes of the Vraerlcan People, 
is a (laHhingevcdiitinn, an intrepid plunge into the regions 
of folly, that has astoiiished the nation. These offirers 
have sent up their young candidate like a sky-rocket en- 
veloped iu hlaze and shoke to the wonder and, admira- 
tion of ail beholders, but in this, decency has been out- 
raged, aiid common sue dismissed the service. 

We have never isad any thing like this before, and 
it is to be hoped, we may »iever have any like it hereafter. 
The ot!ier candid .es for the presidency, make no pre- 
te- '^'ons io !!ie lustre or effiili^reMce of stars, thev are decent, 
modest, opaque bodies, reflecting only borrowed li . and 
niu . „ :;.,v,.iit ipoii he surface of the earth, much after 
liie manner and fashion of other ni'M'tals. 



41. 

In the Columbia Telescope, of .Soiv,<,h Ci(ro]^na; oi 
the 9th of April, 183:2. we have the following extiac t of a; 
letter from a gentleman at Wnshina;ton, — 'Calhoun will 
be the next President. Kor the benel^t of the couiiiry, 
God grant he may. South Carolina has given to the Ra- 
tion, the ablest man whoever jilled the War Departmenty 
and unless public opinion be most fallible will soon pre- 
sent our Country, with as great a Statesman as ever 
•presided over this People. I cannot in reflectuig on thi^ 
subject, avoid recurring to the declaration of ih^ lamenf^ 
ed i)r. Dwigbt concerning Calhoun, that he tiad at oii6 
and twenty, talents enoush for a President of the T^nited 
States. There was something of Prophecy in it.^ !'/ / 

Soon sh:.ll be as great a statesman, :&c. feoon here, 
means the 4th of March, IS:?.'^. If by that time, Mr. 
Calhoun, with sucli oppovtunities^f acquiring knowledge 
as these times afford, shall be as great a sta;esman as 
Washington, Adams, Jefftrsun, Tviadis^n or Monroe, 
with all their experience, acquired , .during a long series of 
arduous and important services, performed for our country, 
in times of our greatest adversity as well as prosperity, 
he must indeed, be the most extraordinary young man, that 
ever attracted the e^ es of the American People. AJidM 
all events he has very extraordinary friends. 

In the same paper we have a communicatior» headed 
** f^conomy — Mr. Calhoun." — ** There is no virtue so 
necessary in a repblican governtnent as economy," &c. 

In the same paper of the 16th of April, 1822,. wc 
again iiave << Economy — Mr. Calhoun." — " dreat pav- 
ings in the War Department' — " By the splendor othis 
own meHtshe [meaning Mr. Calh»>uii] atchieved his 
course to power and influence, by the force of his oicn 
ability, and the strength of his own integrity, he has 
maintained his situation, daily enlarging the circle of his 
own reputation, and transmittini; the solid and permanent 
benefits of his administration into every section of the 
Union." Trash like this, enough to fill a volume, might 
easily be collected from the public papers of the last two 
years. 

Economy and Calhoun are kept { sether. probably 
in stereotype, in these newspapers, as if there was really 



13 

Some connexion between them; as if they weie converti- 
ble terms; as if tliey meant the same thing, or as if L'al- 
houii was economy personified. But this is an unnatu- 
ral associatiiin, only to be found in the newspapers. A 
little examination will shew that Mr. Calhoun is a total 
stranger to economy. 

How did h e consult economy in his efforts to perpc 
tuate the abuse of brevet pay to the officers of the army, 
which abuse, (^ongress were under the necessity of cor- 
recting by law? 

Hq\v did he consult economy in his efforts to prevent 
every proper reduction of the army? 

,How did he consult economy in his wild and vision- 
ary scheme of sending an army to the Yellow Stone river 
fifteen hundred miles up the Missouri, or in the expen- 
sive ; nd wretched manner, in which a part of that expe- 
dition was conducted? 

How did he consult economy when he loaned, or 
advanced without authority to Daniel Buzzard, ten 
thousand dollars of the public money, to build a powder 
mill for the said Buzzard, which loan was to remain three 
years without interest, and then to be returned, not in 
money, but in powder which was not wanted, and at a 
price much above its value? 

How did he consult economy in the Rip Rap con- 
tracts? 

These and many other cases of a similar character, 
present interesting subjects for critical examination. I 
shall, however, select a subject for a future communica- 
tion, depending chiefly upon Documentary evidence, 
which will afford a very distinct view of Mr. Calhoun'e 
system of economy. I mean his causing 3311 men to be 
recruited for the service of the year 1820, when Congress 
restricted tiie recruiting for that year to 1500 men; or, in 
other words, his recruiting 1500 men by the authority of 
Congress, and 171 i, by the authority of the War Depart- 
ment; and this after he had been required by the House 
of iCepresentativea, to report a plan for reducing; the armv 
from 10,000 to 6,000 men. 

CASSIT^S. 



NO. II. 

" Great savings in the War Department.*^ 

Columbia Telescope. 

The power of the Secretary of War had arrived at 
its highest pomt about the close of the year 1819. rie 
had produced a strong impression upon the .vi embers of 
Congress, as well as upon the puplic, that to oppos-r his 
measures, was to oppose the administration of the Presi- 
sident of the United States; and thus he availed himself, 
to a certain extent, of the weight of Mr. Monroe's char- 
acter. He had also produced another strong impression, 
which still seems to prevail, that he had more influence 
than any other member of the cabinet, in procuring ap- 
pointments to office; and, this, however groundless, has 
been of the greatest advantage to him. It has given him 
extensive influence, and added prodigiously to the fasci- 
nation of his manners. It has brought to his party, all 
the office hunters in the Union; and taken collectively, 
they are a very formidable body. 

His measures thus far, although considered as wild 
and extravagant by some of the old fashioned republicans, 
hud met with no decided opposition by a majority of eith- 
er house of Congress. But his estimates of the appro- 
priations neceessary for his department for the year 1830, 
startled those who had placed some reliance on his 
his prudence and talents for business. Even those who 
had believed all the accounts of the " great savings in the 
War Department," now began to examine for themselves 
into his expenditures. The consequence of which was, 
that a majority of both houses of Congress concurred in 
the propriety of arresting the Secretary in his favorite. 



14 

but useless and extravagant scheme, of sending an army 
to the Yellow -^tone Kiver, fifteen hundred miles up the 
Missouri. I'hey determined to check the recruiting ser- 
vice, which he was urging with as much ardour, as if a 
powerful enemy had invaded our shores, and was march- 
ing to Washington. And what was still more offensive, 
they adopted measures for reducing the army to six thou- 
sand men. 

For these and similar offences, they have been stig- 
matized as Radicals, and denounced as enemies to the 
administration. 'I'he Secretary has made war upon them 
by every means in his power. A paper has been estab- 
lished at Washington, under his immediate patronage to 
write them down. He has pursued them into the remot- 
est parts of the Union; and South Carolina is not the first 
nor the last state, in which his vindictive hand has been 
seen and felt. 

At the commencement of the year 1817, the army 
in the aggregate, amounted to 10,1)24'. 

There were recruited in that year 3,939 
In the year 18(8 - - 4,238 

In the year i8l9 - - 4,304 

In three years, 12,481 

At the close of the year 18 1 y the army 

amounted to - - - 8,688 

Less than the aararrerate at the commence- 7 a om 
. CAof^u C lj33o 

mentofl8l7by 3 

This number added to the 12,481 amounts to 13,817 
men lost to the army in three years. Of these probably 
about 3()n( > were discharged on the expiration oi tlieir 
terms of service; the remainder were lost by desertion 
and other casualties. 

Mr. Calhoun required for the recruiting service of 
the year 1820 the sum of _ 8183,925 

" Viz — for .7,;00 recruits — 

Bounties at 1 2 Dollars each S60,000 
Premiums at 2 Dollars each 10,000 
For quarters, fuel, bunks, citizen sur- 
i;eons for examining the recruits and 



p:f 



Ij 

attending tlie sick, fees for magis- 
trates for qualifying recruits until 
organized for joining Regiments or 
Corps, at 22 78 1 2 per man 113,925— 183,t)25 

These estimates appear from a letter, from the Ad- 
jutant and Inspector General to the Secretary of \\ ar, and 
by him communicated to tlie Senate of the United States 
on the 20th of March 1820. 

The House of Representatives paid but litde atten- 
tion to the Secretary's estimates and instructions. They 
voted to appropriate for the whole recruiting service of 
that year, no more than S55. 1 25, not one third part of what 
the Secretary required. This appears from the first sec- 
tion of the bill making appropriations for the military ser- 
vice for 1820, and which passed into a law on the 14<th 
of April of that year. So much of the section as respects 
this appropriation is in these words, "For bounties and 
pvemiums for jif teen hundred recruits, twenty-one thou- 
sand dollars. For fuel, straw, and all other expenses for 
recruits, until organized to join regiments and corps, 
thirty four thousand, one hundred andtwenty five dollars." 
On the 22nd of March, after this bill had passed the 
House of Representatives, and was depending before the 
Senate, the following letter from the A.djutant and Inspec- 
tor General, was communicated to the Senate by the Se- 
cretary of War: — 

*^ Adjutant §* Inspector GeiwraVs Office, 1 

Ma'^cJi nth, IS20. 3 

SIR — It appears iv thene-wspnpern, tliat the House of Representatives vo- 
ted only 21,000 Dollars for bounties and premiums, on account of the recruit- 
ing service of the year. This sum will only inlist 1500 men; less than the 
number actually lost by desertion during the last year. In the three last 
years more than 12,000 men have been enlisted; and still the aggregate of 
the army at the close of the last year did not exceed 9,000 men. 

It is true, only 300 men are entitled to a discharge by the expiration of 
tlieir term; still if the desertions and other casualties, should be as great as in 
former years, the army will not exceed 8,000 men at the close of the year, 
including the recruits which may be obtained with 21,000 Dollars voted for 
tliat purpose. 

I have the honor to be. Sir, vour obedient senant, 
^' " D. PARKER, Adj't. & Insp'r. Gen'I.'' 

I ■ ; «' The Si:ciiF,TA.nT o^• War-" 

;. This letter which the Seci-etary makes his own, by 
communicating it to the Senate, was e\identlv meant as 



16 

a severe reprimand upon the House of Representatives,- 
for nej^iecUiigtiieir daiy; and an admonition to die ben- 
ate to attend to theirs, and amend the bill, so as to corres- 
pond with the wishes and instructions of the War Depart- 
ment. It shews too, that the Secretary perfectly under- 
stood that the House of Representatives had determined 
to authorize the recruiting of idOO men and no more for 
the year iS^iO. 

The Senate on this point weie as refractory as the 
House of Representatives, and notwithstanding the in- 
structions and adiuonitions of the Secretary, and the ut- 
most exertions of his friends, they passed the bill as it 
was sent to them. Congress had refused an appropria- 
rion for moving our troops from Council Bluffs to Yellow 
Stone, and were adopting measures for reducing our peace 
establishment. This was pressing very far upon the for- 
bearance of the Secretary. But to limit the recruiting 
service, after the warning he had given, particularly to the 
Senate, vvas an evidence of marked disrespect, calculated 
to call forth all the energies of his character. Were his 
magnificent schemes to be defeated, his brilliant prospects 
to be obscured from the paltry consideration of saving i 
few thousand, or hundred thousand Dollars? 

He bethought himself .»f all he great thmgs that hari 
been said of him in the public papers; He recollected, al 
though it had not been formally announced, that " SoutV 
Carolina had given to the nation, the ablest man thatevei 
Idled the War Department." He c'»n>.idei'ed that i 
wcudd be thought disgraceful in the army, that the great 
est of all possible secretaries, should yield to a parcel ol 
Radicals in the two Hocses of <'ongress. He reflected 
th;.t should this ontumi cy, particularly on the part of th( 
Senate, be countenanced by the VV'ar Department, ii 
would soon grow up into a spirit of mutiny, that it mighi 
be diilicult to check. 

Besides, some calculations alarmed the Secretary. 
If the army at the close of the year 1>^2{), would amount 
to no more than 8o()() men, including the 1,500, to be re 
cni'tiMl by the authority of Congress, when in 1817, 181^ 
and 1819, there had been recruhed 12,481 men, in fom 



17 

years there would be a loss of sixteen tliousand, includ- 
ing th )se discharged on the expiration of their term of 
service. It followed from this, that should the recruiting 
service be ciiecked, the army in two years more would be 
reduced to a regiment, which would afford no apology 
for keeping in pay, nearly 700 commissioned otficeis: and 
might induce Congress to reduce the number of officers, 
which the Father of the Army ought in no wise to per- 
mit. And should any considerable portion of the officers 
of the army be dismissed, it might endanger the election 
of the army candidate; a calamity at all hazards t.> be 
avoided. Under such circumstances the secretary did 
not long hesitate. He <letermined to recruit 1500 men by 
the authority of Congress, and 171 1 by the authority of 
the War Departmentr Accordinii,ly 3211 men were re- 
cruited for the service of the year 1820. 

Whether Congress is to have any control over the re- 
cruiting service, or whether it is to depend npim the will 
of the Secretary of VVar, seems a question not yet set- 
led. By the 8th section of the first article of the Consti- 
tution of the United States, Congress shall have power 
•' to raise and support armies," under which they have 
pr 'sumed to regulate the recruiting service, both as to the 
amount of the appropriation, and as the number of raea 
necessary for that service. 

In the case of 1830, they were more explicit than 
usual; they expressly designated the number of men to 
be recruited. 'I'he words of the act are " for bounties and 
premiums iovfiftpen hundred rerridU.''^ In the act of the 
29th of vpril 18 1 6. the appropriation for the recruiting ser- 
vice is in these words: -^ For bounties and premiums, fifty- 
six thousand Dollars, " In the act of the 3d of Ma.ch 1817, 
<* for bounties and premiums, thirty-two thousand dol- 
lars" In the act of the I9th February, 1818, •' for 
bounties and premiums, forty-four thousand dollars." In 
the act of the 15th of February 18 1 9, " for bounties and 
premiums, sixty-two thousand five hundred Dollars," — 
without designviting in any of these rases the number to 
be recruited. The number, however, was easily ascer- 
Mined by calculation. 



I 



fS 



The iinnsujil form of appropriation in this particular 
for the vear 1820. was evidently menn- a;^ p limitation to 
the discretion ()reviously exercised by the Secretary. — 
And this precaution was I);y no means unnecessary, for 
iji the year 18 17, there were recruited 3939 men, and in 
the year 1818, 4238; although Congress meant to pro- 
vide for the recruiting of no more than 2500 in the former 
year, and 3000 in the latter. The Secretary authorized 
tliis excess of recruiting over the appropriations, proha- 
bly under some usage of the War Department, by which 
he ventures to exceed the appropriations for any |)articu- 
lar year, and fill up the ranks of the army as established 
by law, provided he can find unexpended bal'nces that 
may be transferred to that service. And, it is possible, 
that in the lastcase of t820, he thought himself, under the 
same principle, justified in disregarding the will of Con- 
gress, expressed in direct terms. 

By the peace establishment of 1815, the army was 
fixed at 10,000 men: but whether the ranks were to be 
kept full at all times or not, depended on the will of Con- 
gress as they believed, and not upon that of the Secretary 
of U'ar. [f he had the riirht to recruit I71I men in 
1820, beyond the numher for which Congress had made 
the aj)])ro|)riation. he would have had an equal right to 
recruit that number, even if Congress had made no appro- 
priation whatever, for tlie recruiUng service of that year. 

The safety of the country requires that Congress 
should have the power of controlling the recruiting ser- 
uiee. hi this case it was pecii!i;\rly impiutanl, for they 
had determined to reduce the armv, and it reduce it in 
the vear following. 

If the '""ecretarv of War could thus recruit men at 
liis pleasure, against the will of Congress, and they were 
bound to appropriate for the pay, subsistence, and cloth- 
ing of sucli recruit'*: and if lie could make contracts to the 
amount of millions of Dollars, for ''ortifications and other 
ohjects connected witii the defence of the country, "nd 
impose upon Congress tlie obligation, to make the apj)ro- 
priations necessary hv carrying such contracts into effect, 



then indeed, the Ke[irescnt:itives of the People presented 
but a feeble barriei' to ilie power of tlie Wat Depaiiment. 

It is probable however, that Congress will llnd 
means her afrer, to restrain tlie recruiting service within 
pi oper bounds: and they have already, by an act of the 
first of May 1830, provided that no contract thereafter, 
shall be made by the heads of any of the departments 
^f except under a law authorizing the same, or under an 
appropriation adequate to its fulfilment — and, excepting 
also, contracts made by tlie Quarter Master's [)epartmeni, 
which may be made by the "secretaries of those Depart- 
ments." 

If the Secretary of War shall consider this very ra- 
dical law as binding upon him, it will put an end to Kip 
llap contracts. 

As soon as it was discovered that more than 3000 
men had been recruited for the year 1830, the House of 
Representatives, on motion of Mr. Tracey, called upon 
the "secretary for information upon this subject. In an- 
swer to which, on the 2nd of January 1831, he communi- 
cated the following letters and statements — 

" Department of War, SOth Dec. 1830. . 

«' SIR — In reply to the resolution cf the House of Uepresentatives of the 
26th inst. requiring-'a statement from this Department, shewing- the number 
of soldiers recruited for the Army during the year 1820, indivatiii^ the /unci 
from IV' ich the expences uj reaiiiiiiig have been pniil; and whether any unex- 
pended balance of former appropriations has been used, and in whatyearsaid 
appropriations was made: I enclose reports of the Adjutant and Inspector 
General, and the Second Auditor of the Treasury, shewing the number of re- 
cruits, and the expencesofthe recruiting service. 

It is deemed proper to observe, tliat although the number of recruits ex- 
ceed tliree thousand, the army has not been so much increased since the last 
year. The difference between the enlistments and the increase, is account- 
ed for by the discharges, desertions, and otlier casualties, during the year,, 
amounting to half as many as have been enlisted. 

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 

J. C. CALHOUN. 
Hon. J. W. Taylor, Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

tldjutant ^* Inspector GeneraVs Office, ^ 
30th Decemher, 1830. 5 

SIR— In answer to that part of the Resolution of the House of Represen- 
tatives, requiring the number of soldiers enlisted during this year, which you 
referred to me, l take the liberty to make the following extract, iVom my re- 
port to you of the 2nd inst. viz: " Abstract of the recruiting returns for 1820, 
whole number enlisted during the year, 3,211." 



so 

The number of recruits for this year is taken from tlie returns made to 
this office, of tlie first three qimitcrs, and an estimate for the present quarter. 
1 have the lionorto be, witii perfect respect, vour obd't. serv't. 

D. PARKER, Adj't. & Insp Gen'l. 
The SECHETAni of War. 

Treasury Department^ 7 
Second Auditor'^ Office, Dec 2Sth 18^0. 3 

SIR — In compliance with the resolut on of the House of Representatives, 
of tlu! 26th inst. 1 have the lumor to transmit to you, herewith, a statement' 
of the funds out ol wliich the expenses of recruiting for this year huve been 
paid. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 

WM. LEE. 
Hon. J. ' . Calhoun, Secretary of War. 

STATEMEJS'T exhihitins; the. funds out ofichich the 
expences of recruiting have been paid, during the year 
1820 in obedience fo a resolution of the House of Re- 
presentatives, dated 2Qth December, 1820. 

BOUNTIES AND PREMIUMS. 

Balance unexpended in the hands of the Treasu- 
rer of the United States, on 1st. of Jan. 18-20 3,197,92 

Amount appropriated for the year 1820 21,000,00 

Amount refunded t" the Treasurer of tlie U. States 

by sundry persons during the year 1820 3,441,01 

•Amount broug-ht to the credit of this appropriation 
on tlie books of this office, on settlement of ac- 
counts, being bal ancesdue thereon, by sundry 
persons, arising out of advances made in 1819, 
and 1820 ... - 26,917,54 

Amount brought to the credit of this appropriation 
from the books of the od Auditor, - 1,212 

Amount due by Robert Brent, late paymaster ge- 
neral, being part of the advance made him on 
account of bounties and premiums, out of the 
appropriation for 1816, refunded in 1820, on 
Settlement of his account - - 35,364,56 



$91,133 03 



EXPENSES OK IIECHUITING, 

.\mount appropriated for the \^ear 1820 - • 34,125 



Amount available by tlie Secretary of War for 7 -^^25 258 03 

the recruiting service of tlie year 1820, > ' 

EXPENDITUIIES. 

Amount of warr.iints issued by the Secretary of War 
to tlio 26th of December, applicable to boun- 
ties and ])remiums - - - 38,610 1? 

Amount disbursed by sundry persons applicable to 
bounties and premWims, an<l brougiit to the de- 
bit of th;it ajjiji-opriatlon or settlement of their 



2i 



accounts, their being balances due by them to 
that amount of sundry specific apjjropriations 9,030 41 

Amount disbursf cl to 26ih of December, on ac- 
count of expenses of recruiting 18 749 65 



Amount expended deducted - - 66,390 22 



Leaving a balance of appropriations on the 26th > a,,o or-r on 

ofDecemnerl820,of - . $ ?58,867 80 



Under the following heads, viz — 

Bounties and Premiums 43,492 45 

Expenses of Recruiting 15,475 35 



$58,868 80 



Treasury Department, Second Auditor's Office, 28tl» Dec. 1820. 

WILLIAM LEE. 

Note. — When we say Robert Brent, late Paymaster General, refunded in 
1820 $35,364,56, it ous^lu nut to />.; understood that he refunded that sum in mo- 
ney; he refundedit in settlemeiit of account only,- that is to say, a balance being 
due to him, for disbursements on account of subsistence, and being a debtor 
under the head of bounties and premiums, to a large amount; iiis account of 
subsistence was closed, by carrying a part of the balance, due by him on 
bounties and premiums, say $35,364,56, to his debit on that of subsistence, 
by which tmnsac i<in, bounties and premiums received a credit on our books, 
while subsistence was debited." 

This statement, which the Secretary communicated 
to the House of liepresentatives hy way of throwing 
light upon a subject of enquiry, is a most rare and singu- 
lar Document. s he Radicals were about as wise after 
this elucidation as they were before it, as the Secretary, no 
d ubt, intended they should be. But a paper of this 
character, thus communicated to Congress, deserves a 
little more attentiim than it has received. As to the ba- 
lance of S58,8()7 80 remaining on the 26th of December, 
1820, nearly the whole of it would be expended when all 
the expenses of the recruiting service of that year should 
be paid ''he bounties, premiums, and other expenses 
of recruiting 3,311 men, would amount, according to the 
estimate furnished by the War Department, to SI 18,116 
63. The amount available by the -secretary of War for 
this service, as by Mr. Lee's statement, was SI 25, 358 
03, — leaving a surplus of no more than %y,i-^\. 40. 

The funds out of which bounties and premiums 
were paid for 1830, consist of six items. The first an 
juuexpended balance in the hands of the Treasurer of 
S3,197 92. This balance is not mentioned in the secre- 
tary's estimate, in which he asks &183,925 for recruiting 
5000 men. Congress did not take it into consideration, 



or they would haVe appropriated a certain sum in addi- 
tion to tins balance, to recruit 1,500 men. The second' 
is the sum of 31,000 dollars appropriated, and all that 
Congress intended should be expended, for bounties and 
])reraiums for the year 1830. As to tiie third, fourth, 
and fifth items, the Secretary could not suppose that any 
body should undtirstand them. He might as well have 
informed Congress that 30,€00 dollars and upwards had 
been refunded to the Treasurer, and received from cer- 
tain persons, at sundry times, and in divers manners. 
As to the sixth item of 835,364 56, refunded by Robert 
Brent, it must have surprized those who knew that Mr. 
Brent died in September, 1819, utterty insolvent, and a 
defaulter to the (niovernment to a very large amount. 

By a letter of the Comptroller of the Treasury of 
the 27th of November, 1820, it appears that a balance 
was due to the United States, from Robert Brent, late 
Paymaster Genera!, on the bt>oks of the Third Auditor, 
of S40,9ll 18. Besides which there were other and 
inu6h larger sums due from him to the United States; for, 
by a report of the Comptroller of the Treasury of the 27th 
December, 18^3, it appears that he was a delinquent to 
the amount of SI 15,598 38, acciuing out of advances 
made to him ft-om the 18th of May, 1816, to June, 1819, 
reported for suit on the*4th of May, 1820. 

As the sixth item was iiivoilved in some obscurity, 
Mr. liee adds ail explanatory note, which Mr. Calhourt 
must have taken for a satisfactory elucidation of the sub- 
ject, or he would not have made it a part of his Report. 
1 have examined this explanatory note 6ver and over, and 
nfever read any thing more ingeniously perplexed. Who 
would suppose that the iliagic force of a few entries 
in the bboks of the Second Auditof, by which not a cent 
was obtained from Mi*. Brent, and which was hot to 
dirfilHish the general balance against him to the aftiount 
of a cent, could authorize the Secretary of War, or ant 
other person, to draw S35,364 56 from any fund belong- 
ing to the United States? 

Roliert Hrent had expended mOre money upon the 
article of subsistence than had been put into his hands 



23 

for that particular purpose, which he took from monies 
put into his hands to pay hounties and premiums; — upon 
botii items pf account, however, tliere was a large bahmce 
due from him to the United States. It is easy to under- 
stand how his subsistence account was balanced by 
charging it with S35,364 5G wlii( h he had taken from 
the monies in his hands to pay bounties and premiums, 
and that the balance on his account of bounties and pre- 
miums should be diminished by that amount. This 
might be a convenient mode of ascertaining the final 
balance due from him on both accounts, but could be of 
no other importance to him or to the United States, as 
they were to receive no money from him on either account, 
and surely were not expected to pay any. But whence 
came the money? Hobert Brent refunded in " settle- 
ment of Recount only." This is not money: Yet the 
money was obtained from some quarter, for bounties and 
premiums cannot be paid in "settlement of account oidy.'' 
If this sum of S35,364 56, said to be refunded by 
J^obert Brent, but which never w as and never will be 
refuuded, was drawn from the 'ireasurer of the United 
States, as agent for the War Department, or from the 
treasury or any other fund belonging to the United JStates, 
after being charged to Robert Brent as if actually paid 
to him on account of his advances for subsistence, and 
credited to him as if actually refunded on account of an 
unexpended balance of money placed in his hands to pay 
bounties and premiums, and then applied to the recruiting 
service of the year 1820; if all this was done with Hobert 
Brent, while he was in his grave and knew nothing of 
tlie matter, it proves, at least, that the lisccretary is very 
,^j\pert at raising the wind. 

In June, 1820, Robert Brent was indebted to the 
. United States in the sum of 8119,598 88. He was 
dead, and his estate utterly insolvent; and this money 
never has been, and never will be, refunded. An 
attempt to draw money from such a fund, thus sunk in 
the bottomless pit of the Paymaster's pocket, would 
formerly have b''en deemed as hopeless as the attempt of 
tho philosopher of Lapiita to extract sun beauT! from 



^4 

( iicumbers: l^nt this is an age of improvements and every 
thing ;)'iLids lo the powers of genius. 

It was discovered that Mr. Brent had disbursed 
S3. ,864 ^^6 for subsistence over and above what was 
charged to him on that account. It was thought that this 
sum might be paid to him on the part of the United "^tates 
to balance and close this a( count of siibsi^ tence, provided 
he should immediately refund the same, on ac«^<>unt of a 
very large balance due from him on account of bounties 
an<l premiums. But, as this payment and re payment 
would have bi en but mere matters of form, it was disco- 
vered that it might be dispensed with, by a few entries on 
th books of the Second ^vuditor. Mr. Brent was, there- 
fore, ciiarged with this sum to closi- his subsistence 
account, and cretlited with an equal sum on account of 
bouiities and premiums; by which transaction, say s the 
Second Amsitor, (he ought to have said mdh oeuv < e) 
'^ i)ounties and premiums received a credit on our books, 
while subsistence was debited;" and the credit thus 
obtained was considered a> a p rt of the available funds, 
wiiich were applied to the recruiting service of 1820 
under warrants drawn bv the * ecretas v of War. as if the 
same had been appropriated by Congress for the recruit- 
ing service of th .t year. 

Yet the money j)laced in the hands of Mr. Bient in 
1818 for paying bounties and premiums for that year was 
not considered l)y Vh'. Calhoun as a part of the available 
funds from which b- unties and premiums could be paid 
in i818; for, in his letter of the 1 8th of December, !817, 
to the Chairman of the Committee of •. ays and Means, 
he i^ays, '• ' he ap ropriation for bounties and premiums 
for tiie ye.jr 1817 was ma-le on a supj)osition that twenty- 
live hundred men would be recruited within the year; but 
as more than three thousand men will have been recruited 
within that period, the apj)ropriation w ill necessarily be 
deiicient: and as the dischariiies from the Array in 1818 
will probaldy Ui' equal to tho-«e in 1817, and a correspon- 
dent nuinbrr )f recruits will therefore be required, it may 
be pr.>jH'.r to increase this appro. uiition for the year 1818, 
ana make it 'H,OUO dollars instead of 33,000, as stated 



S5 

in the general estimate." Had tlie money in the hands 
of Mr Brent been ronsidered as within the reach of Mr. 
Calhoun for the payment of bounties and premium s n 
1818, this increase of ap|)ropriation would not have been 
asked for by liim, nor s^ranted by Conii,ress if it had been 
asked for. At this time, however, Mr. Calhoun has not 
made his wonderful discovery oi refunding in settlement 
of account only. 

Much has been affected by the magic pen of the' 
Second Auditor; but something remains yet to be done. 
More entries must be made upon liis books. From ids 
statement it appears that no more than 34, 1 25 dollars 
were in the ban is of the Secretary of War applicable to 
the expenses of recruiting, (exclusive of bounties and 
premiums) as for quarters, fuel, straw, bunks, &c This 
was the sum appropriated by Congress for these expen- 
ses for 1,500 recruits, and would answer for no more. 
1,711 recruits, therefore, must have remained without 
fuel, straw, bunks, &c. if a part of the surplus available 
for bounties and premiums, say 839,037 63 1- ', had not 
been carried to the aid of this appropriation, which must 
have been done, althouu;h we cannot discover by what 
authority, as the appropriations for bounties and premi- 
ums, and the appropriaticms for the other expenses of 
recruiting, were made under distinc^ heads, and the 
accounts under them so kept, as appears by the Auditor's 
statements. 

According to the Auditor's statement, there was in 
the hands of the Secretary of War, for the payment of 
bounties and premiums, S91.133 02: — deduct from this 
bounties and premiums for 3,211 recruits, at gll each, 
844,95 i— and a surplus is left of S4<>,179 03. 

The sum necessary for the expenses of recruiting 
3,211 men, for quarters. fuel, straw, bunks, &c. at S2« 78| 
each, amounts to S73.162 fi3. 'J he sum applicable to 
this expense, as by the Auditor's statement, is S34. 125, 
shewing a deficit of S39,037 63. which must have been 
taken from the surplus above stated, and would still leave 
a balance of that surplus of 5?7<l'tl 40. 

When these entries shall be duly made, we may pes- 



m 

^ibly have iauotlici" report, that the account of expenses 

.for luel, stiiiw, bunks &c. for 1820 is closed hj (barging 

it with a part of the surplus on the account of bounties 

laiwl pieniiunis, say S34),n20 58, and crediting bounties 

.and premiums with an equal amount, by which transaction 

.'(as the Auditor would say) bounties and premiums will 

receive a credit on his books, while fuel, straw, aiul 

bunks will be del)ited. And this sum, thus credited, 

•may again be considered as available funds in ihe hands 

.«fti»e Secretary of War, for the payment of bounties and 

*ipremiums. 

It is not easy to fix a limit to the effects of this newly 
idiscovered principle of relunding in settlement of ac- 
. count only. It will, unless checked by Congress, give 
.an impetus to the operations our Departments, such as 
was given to our Banks by the suspension of specie 
payments. 

The House of Representatives had called for infor- 
mation as to the number of men recruited in 1820, and as 
,to the fund from which the expenses of recruiting had 
been paid. Mr. Lee, in his explanatory note, should 
iiave exj)resscd, in direct terms, the fund from which the 
^5,384 65 was obtained, and not have left theiiadicals 
'.io conjecture that it came from the dead. 

One object of the House, in calling upon the Secre- 
tary for this information, evidently was to ascertain hciw 
far in applying this money, he had conformed to the laws 
rei]:ulatiii2; the ireasurv, War, and Navy Departments. 
.\But if information more explicit couhl not be obtained, it 
sWas m vain to pursue the inquiry. 

As the most eftectuul means of reducing the expense 
of the recruiting service, and vither enormous expenses of 
:the Afmy, Congress resolved to reduce the Army itself. 
While the recruiting service iu 1820 was pressed by the 
;rSecretary on the one hand; on theother, he was digestingy 
la plan, in obedience to a fj solution of (he House, of Ke- 
•presentatives, for reducing the .4rmy to 6000 men. And 
< the Secretary of the Irea^jury was borrowing three mil- 
lions of dollars, to meet the immediate exigencies > of ouv 
(^ovei/nment. 



When the Army was reduced in 1821, Congress 
were obliged to make the fullowing appropriation: '^ for 
three months gratuitons pay for disbanded officers and 
soldiers, including travelling allowances f r the same, six- 
ty thousand dollars." 

As the reduction of the Army fell almost exclusive- 
ly upon the rank and lile, few officers received any |)art 
of this appropriation: and, if no more men iiad been re- 
cruited in the preceding four years, than Congress inten- 
ded, a very small portion of this appropriation would 
iiave been wanted. 

The contests between the Secretary of War, and the 
two Houses of Congres-i, have been frequent and arduous; 
he struggling to draw money, money, more money from 
the Treasury, for the use of his Department, and they to 
retain it for other purposes. If, in all this, the Secretary 
has been right and Congress wrong, then indeed, must it 
be considered as unfortunate, that they did not, in the 
year 1820, borrow six millions of dollars instead of three, 
and in the year 1821, ten millions instead of five. Then 
our pt'ace establishment might have been kept up at ten 
thousand men; our army removed a thousand miles fur- 
ther into the wilderness, from Council Blufi's to Yellow 
Stone river: 'i'hen we might have recruited five thousand 
men every year; and every year have expended two or 
three hundred thousand dollars upon Hip Hap contracts. 

CASSIUS. 



NO. 111. 

^^ Great savings in the War Department.^^ 

Columbia Telescope. 

That a Secretary of War should become popular 
with the officers of the Army, by observing a strict sys- 
tem of economy, in his Department, is what never did 
happen and never will But to be popular with the army, 
and at the same time gain a reputation for economy, Vlr. 
Calhoun has thought possible for he has raad'^ the at- 
tempt. And, if he can prostiate those members of Con- 
gress, who have opposed his measures, and whom he and 
his friends are pleased to call Radicals, lie mas possibly 
succeed. Hence the war, which he and his corps of edi- 
tors have made upon those me^abers; a war which they 
press with unremitting zeal and fury. 

The members thus denominated Radicals very con- 
scientiously believe that Mr, Calhoun has been more ex- 
travagant in the expenditure of public money, than any 
other Secretary of War has been in time of peace, from 
the commencement of our Government; and that their du- 
ty to their constituents bound them to oppose many of the 
appropriations which he required. And as my own con- 
viction is, that they were perfectly right, I feel disposed 
to make for them, such an apology as facts and circum- 
stances will warrant. 

The epithet Hadical, has been applied to* a large 
portion of the republican members of botli houses of Con- 
gress, by the Secretary and his friends, as a terra »!' re- 
proa h; very much as the terms Democrat, Jocobin, and 
Disorganizers were applied to members of Congress of 
the same principle;?, by the Friends of Opder and good 
Govprnment, under the administration of Mr. Adams. 



30 '1 

) 

Tlic meaning of the word Radical, in its common 
acceptation implies nothing of reproach; hut it has an ac- 
quired and an imported meaning, extremely odious in 
the view of those Avho use it. 

A part of the subjects of the British Government have 
been stigmatized with the name of iadicals, who are ad- 
vocates for a Radical reform in parli;iment, a radic.il re- 
form in the hieiarchy, a radical reform in the standing 
Army, and a Kadical coiTection of a great variety of abu- 
ses, by which the laboring poor of that country are redu- 
ced to a condition more wretched than thU of slaves; and 
who are bowed down to the earth with ut remedy and 
without hope, by the laws of the Holy Alliance and the 
terrors of military despotism. 

The party thus denominated Radicals, are ex- 
tremely odious to the nobility, digUifi-d clergy, titled gen- 
try and officers of the army in that country, and by a 
common feeling, with the tories and aristocrats in this — 
But no American, who harbours in his bosom one spark 
of geiRiiue republicanism, but sympathizes with those 
unhappy people, who are struggling for a small portion 
of that liberty which we enjoy; who is not indig lant at 
the recitals which we have heard of murders committed, 
by the authority of government, on unarmed people, 
peaceably assembled to m.ke known their sufferings to 
their King — cut down by the sword, and trodden under 
the hoofs of the horses of a haughty and triumpbant 
military. The Hadical^ of that country do not wish to 
abolish the monarchy nor alter their form of government. 
Their views are much more moderate than were those of 
Hampden and ""Udney. ^'hey are much more oppressed 
than we were in '76, .uid yet no act of theirs is so radical 
as to bear tlie slightest comp irison with our Declaration 
of Independence. Still there are some in this country 
who look with a malignant eye upon their struggles, and 
who execrate their principles. 

But what have the Members of Congress called 
Radicals done to merit reproiicli? IMiey have endea- 
vored to revive Mr. Jefferson's old system of economy, 
yyh'iQh has long been stigmatized by Mr. Calhoun's 



Irie 



31 



riends as fenny icise and pound foolish, and exploded 
iccordingly — they have opposed several oF the appropri- 
;• itions required for the army and fortifications, because 
hey appeared unnecessary, and must, if granted, lead to 
in immediate resort to loans or taxes — they liave passed 
several acts to limit the powers of the War Department, 
prevent improper transfers of appropriations, to restrain 
he power of making contracts, or purchasing land for the 
United tates without the assent of Congress — they have 
3assed laws to enforce a faithful performance of duty on 
he part of the receiving and disbursing officers of the 
government, by obliging them to settle up their accounts 
)nce at least in four years, under tlie penalty of loosing 
heir offices — they have adopted rigid rules to ccmipel the 
collection of old balances due to the government — they 
aave pursued public defaulters by a great variety of 
aecessary but vexatious enquiries and investigations — 
md they have stopped the pay of such defaulters as re- 
nained in office until their arrears shall be accounted for 
md paid into the treasury, by a proviso to the appropria- 
ion laws of 1832 and 23. 

\ 
It may be thought strange that such a provision, by 
law, should be necessary at this time. Nothing can be 
aiore just than that money due from a defaulting officer 
hould be retained out of his pay in discharge of his debt. 
Under the administration of "Nlr. Jefferson it was the 
practice to retain the pay of officers thus in arrears; and 
they were happy to be continued in office under sucli 
conditions. 

It is the duty of the Comptrollers of the Treasury 
^^ to take all such measures as may be authorized by the 
laws to enforce the payment of all debts due to the Linited 
States."' It was, therefore, their duty to retain, as far as 
they had the power, the pay and emolnments of such de- 
faulting officers in discharge of their debts to the United 
States. In addition to which the General ^iegulations 
of the .\rmy required thai the pay of sucli officers should 
be stopped, and this was done as late as the 20th of No- 



3S 

vember, 1821, as will appear by the following letter of the 
Second Auditor: 

" TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 7 

2ni1 Auditor's Office, Nov. 20. 1821. 5 

SIR— Lieutenant of the 2nd Artillery was included 

in the Comptroller of the Treasury's report to Congress, in 1820, as having 
failed within the year, to make a settlement of his accounts; and, I therefore 
consider it my duty, under the 26th section of the 79ih article of the general 
regulations of the Army, to request, that measures may be taken to stop from 
his pay and emoluments the sum oi $,76, now due by him on the books of this 
office. With great respect, your obedient servant, 

WILLIAM LEE. 
D. Paeker, Pay Master General." 

This regulation was calcukted to save much money 
to our treasury, but was exces-^ively annoying to the 
officers; insomuch that the Father of the Array thought! 
himself called upon to interfere in their behalf, wliich he 
did very eiftctuelly, for a time at least, by the following] 
order: 

" DEPARTMENT OF WAR, Dec. 3d, 1821. 
SIR — The practice of instructing Paymasters, to withhold //ot?) officer's of 
the Army all such sums as may be reported by tlie Second and Third Auditors i 
to be due from them to the United States, is siisperseded. 

I have the honor, Sic. J. C. CALHOUN. 

The Paymaster General." 

This order was an important point gained by these 
officers for the time, and would have continued to 
be so, but for the interference of the Radicals, who 
counteracted the effects of this instance of the becre- 
tary's paternal feelings by the following proviso to the 
IVIilitary Appropriation Bill of the 7th of May, 182S; — 
"J hat no money appropriated by this act, or the act 
entitled An act making appropriations for the military 
service of the rJniteS States for the year one thousand 
eight hundred and twenty-two. shall be advanced or paid 
to any person on any contract, or to any officer who is in 
arrears to the United States until he shall have accoun- 
ted for, and paid into the Treasury, all sums for which 
he may be liable." ''f'he principle of this proviso was 
adopted in tiie Navy Appropriation Bill of that year, as 
well as the appropriation Hills of 18S3, and will conti- 
nue to be adopted hereafter, unless the same shall be 
superseded hy Mr. Calhoun. 

Tlie paitijility disc*\ered on this, as well as on 
other occasion*?, bvthe Secretary towari!.= defaulters, huf- 



3a 

ih'iivvii nearly the whole corps to aid his cause, and they 
now form a very considerable part of his streni^th. 

Under the principle of the above proviso, many 
thousand dollars may be annually saved to the treasury. 
But the ? adicals are to have no credit for all this; — the 
whole will be given to Mr. Calhoun, and considered 
among the "^ great savings in the War Ucpartment;" itud 
quite as fairly so as nine-tenths of the great savings which 
are attrd)utcd to his superior economy But more of this 
liereafter. 

What important institutions have the Radicals at- 
tempted to destroy? The Navy is their favorite means 
of national defence, which they are willing to increase as 
fast as the resources and circumstances of the country will 
admit or require. On this point, however, there seems 
to be but one opinion in i 'ong "es#. 

Nine-tenths of the Members of Congress cherish the 
Mility'ry Academy at West i. ointas an institution which 
does honor to the nation. It is true a few p-entlemen 
from the West have shewn some opposition to this estab- 
lishment, chiefly, it is believed, on account of its location; 
and it is not to be denied that, on that ground, those 
gentlemen have some cause of complaint. 

As to the Indian Department, it was established 
iUid long supported from motives of humanity; but for 
some years past it had become so expensive, so useless, 
so corrupt, and so totally inadequate to the purposes for 
which it ^vas instituted, that gentlemen of all parties con- 
curred in a wish to change the system. A law^ for that 
purpose has been passed by the constituted audiorities, 
and no doubt will receive the sanction of the nation. 

But the Secretary of War wanted money, mone}', 
beau coiijj de V argent; and a refusal to grant it, consti- 
tutes the chief crime of the Radicals. The refusal, espe- 
cially, to grant him fel83,925, to enable him to recruit 
5,000 men for the service of the year 1820, is never to be 
forgiven, as it led him into a labyrinth of difficulties. — 
But althouarh those members \\\\o voted aa:ainst this 
appropriation wdll ne^ er be forgiven by the Secretar}^ it 



34 

i!5 possible they may be by their constituents, when the 
circumstances oftiie case shall be known. 

At tlic coiuiiienceinent ol tlie \ear 1817 the stand- 4 

inif amounted to .... 10,024 men 

In the vears IX'u, '18, and '19, there were re- 

■ cruited 12,481 

22,508 
At the close oftlic year 1819 the army amounted to 8,688 



F.xhibitiiis- a loss in throe years of - - - 13,817 

Of these probabl}' 3,000 were discharged on the expira- 
tion of their term of service. The residue, amounting to 
10,817 men, were lost by desertion, di owning, shooting, 
and other causualties. The expense of recruiting the 
number thus lost w ould amount, 

In bounties and premiums, at $14 each, to - $157,438 00 

In other expenses of recruiting, as for qiiar- 
tcr.s, fiicl, straw, hunks, &.c. for the 
recruits, at ?^7oi each, to - - - 246,465 29 

Whole expense of recriiithig- - - - $397,903 29 
T.pon a calculation tliat these recruits served 
oiir yearupon an average before the}' 
deserted or were otherwise lost to 
ihe service, llu-ir ])av, subsistence, 
clotiitng-, medicine, &c. at ^250 each, 
would aiuoiinl to 2,704,250 00 



Making in all §3,102,953 29 

expended without Droduciii'j: the least beneficial result to 
tiie countr}'. 

Calculations like these alarmed a majority of both 
Houses of Congress, ^viio feared to waste the public 
treasure, and wlio dreaded a resort to loans or taxes in 
tune of peace. ' They believed that the most culpable 
mismanagement existed, eitlisr in the administration of 
the War Department or among the officers of the Army. 
'T'hQy belie^ ed that an armv in which it was necessaiT" 
to recruit near!}- half their number exevj year, could be 
of no ser^'ice to the country in war or peace. And thev 
believed that an army composed of such perishable ma- 
terials ought to be reduced and not iccreased. At such 
a time, and under such circumstances, did the Secretary 
of War ask an appropriation for recruiting 5,000 men. 

\\niatever Coiigress might owe to the official sta- 
tion of the Secretary, they owed more to themselves and 



3j 



to their constituents. They considered it a direUction ol' 
their duty lo grant the full amoLint of this appropriation. 
Had they authorized the recruiting of 5,0U0 men by 
granting bl 83,925 for that purpose, tirey would have 
been bound to make much greater appropriations for the 
pay, subsistence, and clo^img of these recruits; for a 
year or two at least, until they should have time to desert. 

Congress determined very properly to authorize the 
recruiting of no more than 1,500 men; but the Secretary 
determined to recruit more than twice that number. In 
doins: this he discovered o-rcat devotion to the wishes of 
the Army, but very little to the will of Congress or the 
interest of the country. 

The facts already stated are certainly sufficient 
to justify Congress in refushig to grant the full appro- 
priation for recruiting five thousand men. Yet there 
were other circumstances which had great weight in 
bringing them to this decision, as well as to the 
determination to reduce the Army. They had heard 
reports of gross abuses practised by the officers of the 
Army in the expenditure of the public money, and in 
the destruction of pubhc property; and they had heard 
accounts of cruel punishments, such as flogging, crop- 
ping, branding, drowning, and shooting, inflicted upon 
the soldiers by the officers, in direct violation of the laws 
of the United States. Whoever will beat the trouble of 
reading thfe trial of Col. William King before a General 
Court Martial, in December, lol9, and his printed letter 
to the President of the United States, will find abundant 
reasons for such reports. This trial, laid before the 
House of Representatives at their request, on the 3d day 
of May, 1820, may be found among the printed docu- 
ments of Congress. The most material circumstances 
of the trial, however, were known at Washington some 
months earlier. 

At present I shall notice no more of this trial than 
respects the illegal punishments and excessive cruelties 
inflicted upon the soldiers of the Army. 



36 

Col. King was convicted on several charges and 
specifications, and, among others, on the following: 

" 'i'liat he (lid sanction the proceeding's of a general court martial in the 
case of'Newley, a private in tlie 4th infantry, who was found guilty of deser- 
tion, and sentenced to have his head shaved, iiis left ear to be cut from his 
head, to receive fifty lashes, and then to be drummed out of the service; and 
did approve of the said sentence, but was pleased to remit all the punish- 
ment except fifty lashes." 

" Of failing and reiusing (although thereunto requested) to investigate 
the cause and manner of the death of Charles Mason, a private in the 4th re- 
giment of United States infantry, who was inhumanly drowned in the harbor 
ofPensacola, while undergoing a ducking, which was carried to such ex- 
cess, as to deprive him of life, and was inflicted by order of Lieut. Lear, and 
executed by Sergeant Stark, without the form or authority of a court martial, 
and entirely on liis own responsibility; and, although Major Dinkins, then 
commanding in Pensacola, immediately arrested said Lieutenant and Sergeant 
until the return of the said Col. King from Montpelier; yet, nevertheless, the 
said Col. King, totally failing, refusing, and neglecting to do his duty, had 
them both released, without any trial or legal investigation." 

" That the said Col. King being then commanding officer of the pro- 
vince of West Florida, did fail, refuse and neglect to cause an immediate in- 
quiry into the circumstances attending the death of Neil Cameron, a deser- 
ter from the 4th regiment of United States Infantry, who was in the most in- 
human and cruel manner put to death by Sergeant Childress, although said 
Cameron made no resistence, but begged to be taken back and tried tor his 
offence, by a general Coui-t Martial." 

" That the said Col. King did, on or about the 1st day of March, 1819, 
order Lie. ,t. A. M. Houston, acting assistant deputy quarter master general, 
to pay Sergeant Childress, of the 4th regiment of United States Infantry, the 
sum of thirrty dollars, which he alledges was for the apprehension and delive- 
ry of Neil Cameron, a private of the first battalhon company, 4th regiment 
infantry; when, in fact, said Sergeant Childress had put the said Cameron, to 
death, on or about the 16th day of September, 1818, in the woods about 16 
or 17 miles from Pensacola; and never had delivered him to any officer of 
the United States army, as the regulations required, but left him unburied 
where he had shot him— all of which circumstances the said Col. King was 
well apprised." 

Thomas Mitchell, a private in the 4th infantry,ja witness on the part 
of the prosecution, testified " that he wa sent with Cliarles Mason in the 
morning, to see that he washed himself; he had been in the stocks all night; 
and while he was down washing himself. Sergeant Starks and a-iother man 
came down with a rope; the Sergeant ordered us to tie Mason's hands and 
feet- we only tied his hands and kept him under water 'till we cried out to 
Sergeant Starks to let him take breatii; he replied « keep him under the wa- 
ter,' if you don't, I . ill come in and duck you.' Afterwards witness told him 
he was so near drowned, it was not worth while ducking him any more, and 
he was ordered to fetch him out then; when we were fetching him out, we 
both had hold of him, and the Sergeant ordered us to let him go. He fell 
and sunk under water, and we grabbed him as soon as we could, and we took 
him out and rolled him on a barrel awhile, but he was dead." Question by 
the Court—" Was he dead when you let him go, or did you observe any 
life in him?" Answer — " He was not dead whe . we let him go." 

Cornelius .lackson, a private in the 4th regiment. United States infantry, 
testified, " tliat he was one of the party who was sent in pursuit of Neil Ca- 
meron, private, of the 4th intiintry; that the party came upon him about 15 
miles from Tt-nsacola, whiK- he was asleep; does not know who gave the or- 
der. Our order was wrote by Major Dinkins, which was, if we came up with 
im in the bmmds of Spain, we were to put him to instant death, but if lie was 



37 

uut of the limits of Spain, we were to take him back as prisoner, we waked 
him up and askccl him if he had not deserted, and he said he had; wl- asked 
him il he di 1 not consider himself a prisoner, and he said he did Sergt-ant 
Childress told him that he liad orders to put him to instant death; he begj^ed 
to be taken back as a prisoner (saying he was on his return to Pensacola) 
and tried by a court martial, and receive such punishment as a court might 
put on him Sergeant Childress said it was not worth while, for if he was, he 
would be put to death as soon as he got back. Cameron said, if lie was, it 
would give him a few days to repent of his drunkenness and bad doings.— 
Witness saw Sergeant Childress' determination was to shoot him, and witness 
told Sergeant Childress to let Cameren read the order himself, and he still 
begged to be taken back as a prisoner; — then Sergeant Childress ordered 
witness to shoot him, and witness could not do it; — he did not see any occa» 
»ion for it, for Cameron had given himself up as a prisoner. Childress took 
the gun out of witness' hand and stepped round him, while he was sitting 
down, and snapped it at Cameron's breast twice. Sergeant Childress hand- 
ed back the gun and told witness to discharge it; he told witness to load her 
again, and witness done so. ameron then made this reply to hiiu; 'Ser- 
geant Childress you have snapped your gun at me a second time, now take 
me home as a prisoner if you please.' He told liim it was more than he could 
do, for his order would not allovv of it; Sergeant Childress stepped round to 
Cameron as he was sitting down, and says I wish I had a heart as big a mill 
stone, and blowed him through; — then we returned to Pensacola as quick as 
we could; we reported to the commanding officer what we had done, and he 
said we had done exactly right." 

Question by the prosecutor — " Did you bury him or leave him where 
you had shot him; and did Col. King pass you on the road as you were re- 
turning, and had he any conversation with the Sergeant or yourself on the 
subject of shooting Cameron?" 

Answer — ♦* We left him where we shot him, unburied; Col. King did 
not pass us on our return." 

Question by the prosecutor — " Did you not receive in March last at this 
post, fifteen dollars from Sergeant Childress, as part of the reward for ap- 
prehending Neil Cameron?" Answer — " I did." 

Col. King did not seem to consider his conduct as 
even censurable. In his defence he says: 

'« There is not, Mr. President, in the United States, a camp, a garrison 
or a corps, in which corporal punishment, by stripes or lashes, has not been 
necessarily resorted to s nee 1812. I defy my accuser to produce an orderly 
book of the army, that does not bear the record of sentences similar to those 
I sanctioned. Every Generel in' service well knows, that lashes are daily 
inflicted throughout the army. Why if it is improper has it never be en for- 
bidden? Because the law does not prohibit it." "In October 1818, Genl. 
Gaines my commanding officer, approved the sentence of a general court 
martial, which awarded to a deserter the penalty of being branded on both 
cheeks and the forehead -with the letter D. I hold in my hand. Sir, that officers 
approval of a sentence, which dirrects that an offenders ears shall be cut off 
as close to his head as po-sible. What law, Mr. President, authorizes such 
punishment? None, What law prohibits it? None. Then, sir, those ca- 
ses are precisely on the same footing, except that the punishment which 
sanctioned, is usual and customary, whereas the other is unusual and severe.* 

This convenient rule for construing the laws of the 
United States was not peculiar to Col. King. It is to be 
hoped, however, it did not prevail to the extent he repre- 
sents. By the 7th section of an act of Congress of the 
16th May, 1812, so much of the act for establishing rules 
and articles for the government of the Armies of the 



38 

United States as authorizes the infliction of corporal 
punishment by stripes and lashes, was repealed. 1 ne 
officers had no authority to inflict such punishment by sta- 
tute. It is probtible, however, they exercised this power 
under some unwritten common law of the Army. The 
meaning of the 7th section of the act of l8l2 could not 
have been misunderstood by a single officer of the Army. 
But the will of Congress seems to have but little weight 
with any part of our Military Establishment, from the 
Head of the War Department to the lowest commission- 
ed officer. 

Col. Kinsr, in his letter to the President of the Uni- 
ted States, attempts to justify the act of putting Neil 
Cameron to death, and admits that he did, ^' in several 
instances^ give orders to put deserters to death on the 
spotf if overtaken in the province ofFlorida.^^ And adds: 

" Even the Government, to wliom my order was earlv reported, hy a 
busy meddler, ?ppears to have viewed my conduct with no evil eye, until it was 
goaded on to the measure of an arrest, by the outcry of newspaper scribblers, 
and the threats, if I am correctly informed of two factious demagogues in Con- 
gress; else why after demanding from me a report on the subject, in March 
1819, was the business permitted to slumber until the August following, more 
than thirteen months after the order was given." 

These Factious IJemagos:,ups, no doubt, were 
Radicals, who, in the opinion of Col. King, were disturb- 
ing the wholesome discipline of the Army. 

As to the charge of having ordered thirty dollars to 
be paid to Sergeant Childress, he exclaims — 

" in the name ot Heaven, wlierein consists tlie guilt of this transoiction? 
Under the regulations of the Depaitment ofWar, thirty dollars is the reward 
paid for tlie apprehension and delivery of a deserter. The party sent in pur- 
suit of Cameron were ordered to put him to death — they fulfilled the order, 
and were as justly entitled to the reward, as if they had, under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, delivered him. The propriety of the order has nothing to do 
with the payment of the reward; and to have withheld the thirty dollars, 
wo(dd have been pimish the Sergeant for the faithful performance of his duty." 

Col. King was mistaken as to the light in which his 
conduct was viewed by the government; for, although it 
is true that the House of Representatives pressed upon 
the War Department the necessity of ascertaining the 
truth of reports which had reached them of abuses in the 
army, it is but justice to the Secretary to state, that, as 
soon as he had authentic information that an order had 
been issued by Col King to shoot deserters, he did, in 
March, 1819, direct an enquiry into the fact, and, in the 
August following, ordered a Court Martial, before which 



39 

Col. King was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be susr 
peiided, iVom ail rank, j^uy, and emoluments, lor five 
years. But it is not known that any others have been 
punished for these offences. Aldiough the orders to 
shoot deserters whereever found in the province of West 
Florida were frequent, yet it does not appear that any 
one was actually obeyed except in the case of Neil Ca- 
meron; but this furnishes no excuse for the officers who 
gave the orders. 

On the 8th of June, 1820, the President of the Uni- 
ted States, in compliance with a resolution of the House 
of Representatives, laid before them a report of execu- 
tions which had been inflicted in the Army since the year 
1815, in which we find many cases of illegal and cruel 
punishments. 

These facts, which the public ought to know, shew 
how rapidly abuses gi'ow up in an Army, and how im- 
portant it is, upon every principle of humanity as well 
as economy, that our peace establishment should be 
upon as small a footing as a regard for the safety of the 
country will admit. Such was the policy of Jefferson — 
such ought to be the policy of the natio. —such is the 
policy of the party in Congress who are denounced as 
Radicals. 

And shall the members thus denounced, who, 
with all this information, and much more of the same 
kind, before them, voted against recruiting 5,000 men in 
1820, and in favor of reducing the Army to 6,000 in 
1821 — shall these men be condemned by their constitu- 
ents as the destroyers of useful establishments — and yet, 
for these, with other offences of a like character, they are 
pursued and persecuted by the Secretarj^of War and his 
hireling editors. 

As early as the 17th of April, 1818, the Secretary 
was called upon by a resolution of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, offered by Mr. Trimble, of Kentucky, to re- 
port whether any, and, if any, what, reduction might be 
made in the Military Peace Establishment of the United 
States, with safety to the public service. In answer to 
which he made his report of the Uth of December, 1818, 
in which he gives it as his opinion that 



40 

•' A reduction of the expense of the present establishment; cannot be 
made nvUli .v ■■J'e:y to A^ Imblic service, by reducing llis army." And " that the 
cxpence of our tnihtary estabhsliment cannot be mateiially reduced -without 
injury to the public service, by reducing the pay and emoluments of the offi- 
cers and soldiers." 

An effort was made, however, to reduce the Army 
ill the session of 18 18 and ^19, which was successfully 
resisted by the Secretary, in part by the official weight of 
his character, but much more by his address, and that of 
his friends, in producing an impression that the Presi- 
dent of the United States was opposed to any reduction. 

In 1820 the Secretary was directed to report, at the 
next session, a plan for reducing the army to 6,000 men, 
by a resolution offered by Mr. Clay. Kentucky seems 
to be the head quarters of Radicalism. 

In 1821 the Army was reduced from 10,000 to 
6,000 men, although the ten thousand were as much wan- 
ted then as they were in 1818. 

The reduction in numbers was two-fifths, but the 
expense of the Army was not diminished in the same 
proportion, because the reduction fell chiefly on the rank 
and file, while nearly all the officers — the most expensive 
part — remained in service. The reduction of expense, 
however, must exceed half a million of dollars a year. 

It seems, after all, that the President was not oppo- 
sed to the reduction; for, in his Message of the 3d De- 
cember, 1822, he says: 

" The org-anizatiou of the several corps, composing the army, is such as 
to admit its expansion to a great extent, in case of emergency, the officers 
carrying with them all the light which they possess, to the new corps to 
which they might be appointed. With the organization of the staff <Aere is 
equal tnu^e to be satisfied." 

If the Secretary was right in his report in 18 1 8, that 
the Army could not be reduced with safety to the public 
service, then Congress have been guilty of an offence 
against him and against the nation. But if the reduc- 
tion has been made without danger to the, public service , 
then has the Secretary much to answer for at the bar of 
the public. 

CASSIUS. 



NO. IV. 

'^ Great savings in the War Department.*^ 

Columbia Telescope. 

Whatever may be said of the conduct of Mr. Cal- 
houn's friends, their courage will not be called in ques- 
tion. 

To pass off upon the American people (he most 
magnificent, the most visionary, and the most extravagant 
Secretary of War we have ever had, as a model of pru- 
denee and economy, required a bold defiance of public 
opinion, of which our history happily aftords but few 
examples. 

As the Secretary's economy is the weakest part of 
his character, his friends, with military skill, have turned 
the whole of their artillery to the defe ice of this point. 

Every thing that has had a tendency to reduce the 
expenses of the Army, has been ascribed to the superior 
management of Mr. < alhoun. All the retrenchments 
introduced by the Uadical Vl embers of Congress, have 
been attributed to his economy. The money saved by 
the reduction of the \rmy, which he obstinately opposed, 
is carried to his credit. Whatever we have gained by 
favorable seasons, abundant cntps, and the reduced price 
of provisions, is claimed as the work of this economical 
Secretary; and should it rain manna in the wilderness, 
which may be wantt'd for the support of our forces there, 
it will be considered as so much gained by him on account 
of subsisteice, and recorded among his " great savings 
in the War Department. " 

No small part of the Secretary's great savings hag 
been attributed to the establishment of the Commissariat 
ivstem in 1818. Whatever merit ihere may be in the estab- 



4S 

lisliment of that system, it is due almost exclusively to 
Col. Williams, late a very able and patriotic Senator 
from ! enne-isee; and certainly afifords no strong reason 
for exaltins, Mr. Callioun. 

If there has been any great saving under this system, 
the credit is due to the management of the Commissary 
General, Mr. Gibson, who is truly a man of business and 
economy. But surely Mr. Calhoun is not to be made 
President of the United States, because George Gibson 
is a very good Commissary General. 

The rapidity with which the old Army accounts 
have been brought to a close, is owing chiefly to the dili- 
gence of the Third Auditor, Peter Hagner, an intelligent, 
industrious, and vigilant officer, and who was so before 
Mr. Calhoun was known in the War Department. 

All the credit due to these officers, and all others 
attached to the War Department, is carefully collected to 
form a stock of merit for the \rmy Candidate, in this his 
time of need; but to be restored, with interest, as soon as 
he shall become President of the United *^tates. 

T'hese great savings, which are actributed to the 
Secretary of War, sound well in debate, and look well 
upon paper, — but will nr)t bear the test of examination. 

In the Columbia Felescope, of "^. Carolina, of iGth 
April, 1822, by way of shewing what immense savings 
Mr. Calhoun hs made for the nation, we have the fol- 
lowing statement of the expenditures of the Army for live 
years — 

" For the year 1818 - - - $3,702,495,04 

1819 - - - 3,384.731,95 

1820 - - - 2,816,414,11 

1821 - - - 1,180,093,53 
Estimate for 1822 - - - l,8u0,424,85" 

The good People of South Carolina, wlio verily be- 
lieve, that they have " given to the nation, the ablest man 
who ever filled the War Department;" also believe that 
this great man by his superior economy, has made all the 
reduction in the expenditures of the army, that would ap- 
pear, by the above statement; and that in 1823 for in- 
stance, he saved to the nation nearly two millions of 
dollars. 



43 

The sum of expenditures for * 822, is o.aied by es- 
timatey that is, by guess work, and is too low, by nearly 
129,000 Dollars; atid the sums stated for I820'^and 21, 
are still more remote from the truth, as will appear fjom 
more authentic statements, made by Mr. Calhoun's friends 
at VVashington. 

'he day before this great display of Mr. Calhoun's 
savings was made in Soiith Carolina, a similar disp'ay 
was made at the Seat of Government. Mr. Sterling, of 
New York, Mr. Calhoun's confidential friend, in a 
speech in the H«>use of epresentetives, by way of shew- 
ing '' that the expences of the army had been reduced to 
an extent, and with « rapidity truly sur-pri^ing,^ gives 
the following statements:* 

^^ Cost per man. Reduction, 

$451,00 for the year 1818 

434,79 . 1819 - $16,87 

315,88 - 1820 - 135,69 

287,02 - 1821 - 164,55 

299,46 - 1822 - 153,11 

" The proportion of the officers to the men in 1822, being' greater than 
before, prevents the result of that year from being as favorable as prior to 
that time. 

" Again; the whole expences of the army since 1818, have decreased as 
follows, viz — 



«« 1818 


13,702,495,04 


No. of Army 


8,199 


1819 


3,663,735,16 


. 


- 8,428 


1820 


3,061,884,00 


. 


- 9,693 


1821 


2,327,552,13 


. 


- 8,109 


1822 


1,929,179,91 


- 


- 6,441' 



This statement, although very erroneous, particu- 
larly in the last item, is a much nearer approach to the 
truth than that of South Carolina. Mr. Sterling was at 
the seat of government, and had the best opportunities of 
acquiring information. His statements have a more im- 
posing appearance, and have had more weight than any 
others upon this subject, and therefore are more worthy of 
examination. 

I The first thing that strikes us, in looking at these 
statements, is, that the whole come within the period of 
Mr. Calhoun's administration of the War Department, 
and afford us the opportunity of comparing Mr. Calhoun 

I *See National Intelligencer, 23d April, 1822. 



44! 

of 1818 with Mr. Calhoun of 1822, by which it would 
appt-ar that, between those two periods, he had altered 
his practical economy much for the better. 

If the aflairs of his Department, however, were not 
managed in 18:23 with more economy than they should 
have been, which will not be pretended, then they must 
have been managed with the utmost profusion and extra- 
vegance in l8l8 and '19. 

If the Army was not supported in 1818 more eco- 
nomically than at the rate of 451 dollars per man, under 
a contract system, in time of profound peace, it must have 
been because that system was badly administered. 

The Commissariat svstem began to go into opera- 
tion in that year. 'J'he Commissary General, and other 
oflBcers subordinate to him, were appointed and under 
pay, and no doubt performed s^'me services. It must be 
allowed, however, that the beneficial effects of the system 
could not be immediately realized. But in 1819 the 
system was in full operation, and yet very liHle improve- 
ment then took place in the expenditures of the War 
Department: not more than should have resulted from the 
reduced price of all articles necessary for the support of 
an Army at that time. 

Under a well regulated contract system, in time of 
peace, the .\rmy may be as cheaply, but perhaps not as 
well, supplied as under a Commissariat system In fact 
the present Commissariat system, so far as it respects the 
purchase of supplies for the Army, is essentially a con- 
tract system, as will appear by the 7th section of the act 
of the 1 Uh \ pril, 1818, regulating the Staff of the Army, 
viz: '< That the supplies for the Army, unless in parti- 
cular and urgent c^tses, the Secretary of War should 
otherwise direct, shall bp purchased hy contract to be 
made by the Commissary General, on public notice^ to be 
delivered, on inspection^ in bulk, and at such places as 
shall be stipulated; which contract shall be made under 
such regulations as the Secretary of War shall direct." 

? he most important difference between the two sys- 
terns is this: that under the one, the contracts for supplies 
were made by the immediate direction of the Secretary of 



4j 

War — under the other, by the immediate direction of the 
Cofumissary General; which, for the time being, is cer- 
tainly a great irapr vement. 

In 1819 theexnense of supporting tlie Army, unde^ 
the Commissariat system, was at the rate of &434 70 per 
man. In 1833, under the same system, it was at the rate 
of S<99 46 per man. And Mr. Sterling was truly sur- 
prized that it cost us so little in the latter year, but forgot 
to be surprized that it cost us so much in the former. 

The pay of a paivate is 5 dollars per month — for 

the year r - - - - $60 00 

In 1822 the rations might have been had at 12 

cents each 43 80 

Clothing- at $1 75 per month - - - - 21 00 

Other expenses, estimated at - - . - 5 20 



$130 00 

The privates ought to cost us annually about 130 
dollars each. 

In IS22 the average expense of the Army, officers 
included, was at the rate of S299 46 (say 300 dollars) 
per man. But this, Mr. *- terling's opinion to the con- 
trary notwithstanding, was much more than it ought to 
have been. 

U ill our farmers and planters, whose hard earnings 
are taheu to support an Army of six thousand men at the 
annual rate of 300 dollars eac.i. be persuaded that their 
money, in this case, is expended with a degree of econo- 
my truly surprizing? 

Tiic country labors under great pecuniary distress, 
from which we cannot anticipate any speedy relief — the 
produce of agriculture sells at a price that will scarcely de. 
fray the expense of transporting it to market — and at no pe- 
no period of our history could the articles necessary for 
clothing our troops be had at so cheap a rate And is our 
Army still to cost us at the rate of three hundred dollars 
per man? 

Unless the articles necessary for the support of an 
Army shall command a bettf'r price than they have for 
two or three years prast, the Army can and must be sup- 
ported at a cheaper rate than it has been. 

But. if three hundred dollars per man he considered 
as a reasonable rate of expenditure for 1823, how is the 



46 

Hecretary to account for his extravagance in 1819? Why 
8houkl our troops cost us 81-35 S4 more per man in that 
year than in the year 1823? VV^hy this waste of public 
money? 

Had it been the object of Mr. Sterling to shew to the 
people whose money must support our standing Army, 
the profusion and extrwagnee of tiie Secretary in 1818, 
'*19, and '20, he could not have lione it more effectually 
than by the statements he has exhibited 

VVeli may Mr. Calhoun exclaim, ** Save me from 
my friends." 

For once 1 will endeavor to do it, by removing some 
of the unfavorable impressions which these statements 
are calculated to make, 

'I he A.rmy, according to Mr. >^terling's statement, 
in 1818, cost us per men S4j1 00 — in the year 1822, 
S299 46— making; a difference of S151 54. But the 
whole ot this diil'^rence ougnt not to be charged to the 
extn»vagance of the Secretary of War. 

In the first place, Mr. - terling has swelled up the 
aggregate of the Army for 1822 beyond the limit of its 
organization, which, under tlie law of the 2nd March, 
lH2l, is fixed at (i,183 men, officers included, as appears 
by the return of the acting Adjutant General of the 9th of 
ISovember, 1822. 

Tlie ranks of the Army, however, will rarely be full 
agreeably to this crgauization. In 1822 the aggregate 
of the Army amounted to 5,211 men, officers included. 
This appears by the return of the acting uljutant Ge- 
neral of the 13th of November, 182.J. And this return, 
signed by the acting • djutant General, to make it very 
»tri)ng is also signed by the Major General, but in whit 
capacity, vvhetlier as Commander in (^hief, or "s assistant 
acting Adjutant Gcni'rai d.)es not appear by the record. 
It goes, however, to shew that the VJajor General has 
ftomt'thinj^ to (N at Washington, notwithstanding all the 
Kadicals have said to the contrary 

Mr. SLerlinj;'s rate of expense per man for 1832 
should be in(;reased more tliaii 2) per cent: that is, he 
shouhl have divided the vsiiole expense of the Army for 



47 

that year by 5,S11, the actual numher of men in service, 
instead of t^,443, his estimated niiinhv r. This wouUl 
give the sum of S49W*^, ami reduce the difference fronJJ«K/»^« 
S151 54 to S8 '79 (^uts per rain. ^ 

riiere are otlier circumstances to he taken into the 
calculation. To make up the annual amounts of the ex- 
penditures of the Army, from which Mr. Stirling ha« 
taken his rates of expense, he includes the charges for 
the pay, subsistence, forage, bounties, and premiums, 
and other expenses of recruiting — Hospital department 
contingencies and quarter master's department, but ex* 
eludes the expense of the Military Academy, 

In the year 1818, the tiansportation account of the 
oflRcers alone, amounted to 8-13,341. In 1883, to a com- 
paratively small sum. 

In the year 1818, the recruiting service cost S155,- 
878. In 1833, no more than S23,;i79 —Most of the con- 
tingent expenses of the army were greater in 1818, than 
in 1833. 

It is not doubted, but that the Commissary General, 
has made considerable savings in his Department, by his 
care and diligence in forming contracts for supplies. If 
to all this, we add, what has been gained by thereduciioa 
in the pricos of all articles necessary, for the supply of 
an army since 1818, about 33 1-3 per cent, on an ave- 
rage, we shall find that Mr. Sterling's great difference in 
the rate of the expense of the army in 1818 and 1822, can 
be accounted for, without considering Mr Calhoun more 
extrnvagant in the foaraer year than in the latter, or more 
economical in the latter year than in the former. 

In fact, so far as regards his particular agency, there 
seems to be but little change in his system of economy, 
either for the better or the worse, since he came into office* 
But there are certain supposed great savings upon a 
variety of contracts, the merit of which more exclusively 
belongs to the Secretary. 

In a debate on the contract for delivering stone at the 
Rip Raps, one of his friends deelared '• that he was au 
thorized to say, that, if Mr. Mix had not taken this con* 
tract, a loss would have been occasioned to the United 



•» 

«r 



48 

States of 75,000 dollars — the contract bavins; been taken 
by Mr ux at half a dollar per 4Ji'vciJi. l«ss than was just 
about to be contracted for by anoflier person." 

That this circumstance has not been publishf'd among 
the strong reasons for raiding Mr. Calhoun to the Piesi 
dency, may possibly be owing to the great modesty of hi« 
friends. As, however, they seem in a fair way to reco- 
ver of that, we may still havethe.se 75,000 dollars exhi- 
bited among the great savings in the War Department, 
After which, we may also have an account of great sav- 
ings cm other contracts for fortifications. On the cont acti 
for advancing the public monev to build a Powder Mill 
for Mr. Buzzard. On the contracts for cannon, howit- 
zers, shot shells. &c. for the last five years; and more es- 
pecially on the contracts with the Messrs. Jonhsons, fori 
transporting our army ftom t. honis to Council Blufifs;: 
all which will require an impartial and careful examina- 
tion. CAhbiUS. 









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